The case of Renisha McBride, the 19-year-old black girl whose car broke down in the early-morning hours of Nov. 2 in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn Heights and was shot in the face by a white homeowner after she knocked on his door asking for help, has all the markings of becoming a divisive racial flash point. Although her death has been ruled a homicide, the shooter has not been charged with anything. Vigils have been held demanding justice, as well as a vibrant Twitter campaign, mostly thanks to the efforts of writer, filmmaker and Detroit native Dream Hampton. In a short film that she posted to YouTube about the events surrounding the case, one of the protesters writes a sign saying, “Don’t shoot, I’m a black woman.”

This is not the only time in recent memory that a black woman in danger was viewed as a threat. Last October during Hurricane Sandy, 39-year-old Glenda Moore of Staten Island had been trying to get her two young sons to safety when quickly rising floodwaters swept them away. Moore ran to one house and then another, asking the residents to call 911. The first told her to go away, reportedly saying, “I don’t know you. I’m not going to help,” and the second turned out their porch lights. Neither called the police as asked.

These cases signal the rise of a new black-female stereotype that just may be more insidious than the old ones. In her 2011 book, Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes and Black Women in America, Tulane political-science professor and MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry describes four classic caricatures: the “angry black woman”; the loud-talking, neck-rolling Sapphire; the highly sexed and sexualized Jezebel; and the maternal, asexual, dark-skinned, large-boned Mammy. But none of those images should inspire fear, or explain why anyone would immediately view black women like McBride or Moore as threats, as opposed to women merely in need of help.

Of course, black men have long been profiled by society as threatening, or maybe even as criminals. The tragedy of the killing of Trayvon Martin only served as proof of how persistent this stereotype is. As legal scholar Michelle Alexander points out in her book, The New Jim Crow, the systemic profiling of black youth leads to increasingly higher rates of their arrest and incarceration, as well as massive distrust of law enforcement in black communities. But Alexander is silent on black women profiled as criminals.

In order to better understand how history might help us understand the present, I contacted a historian at UCLA, Sarah Haley, whose work looks at how historical perceptions of black women have impacted their societal treatment and relationship to the criminal-justice system. When I asked her about the McBride case, and why she thought the homeowner might not have offered help, she said that black women are more often viewed as “the help” than in need of help. She added, “Black women have been seen as different than black men, certainly, but they have not always been seen as women either; to be a woman is to be seen as deserving of protection, and black women are not always seen that way.”

As an example of how these views have impacted the lives of individual black women, she pointed out that at the turn of the 20th century, black women were sometimes subjected to harsher treatment than men when convicted of crimes. “They were thrown in city convict camps, whipped and forced to pave local streets for things like cursing in public … it was rare for white women to even be prosecuted for such crimes.” Haley was of course saddened by the McBride case, but in some ways she was not surprised because we have so often viewed black women as more threatening, more masculine and less in need of help, protection and support than white women.

It’s a complicated and dehumanizing stereotype — and its debunking seems somehow at odds with feminism. No one wants to project the message that black women are weak and helpless. And yet when a 19-year-old with a broken-down car knocks on a door only to get shot in the face, we know that something is severely wrong in how society perceives black women as criminals or not, victims or not, and even women or not.

so black america, where's the outrage over the multiple triple homicides that happened in detroit that week that were black on black crime? or does that not fit into your narrative of "everything is the white man's fault and if it isn't, just ignore it"?

In this world we no longer see each other as human beings, if we ever did we do not any longer. We all have been labeled and categorized. But we are not human. We do not celebrate differences; we abhor them, we fear them. We are a sad pathetic people to accept a world such as this. It is a horror to think we are passing this world to our children.

We don't even know if the man even saw that she was a female or black before the gun discharged. All we know is he shot through the screen, he says the gun discharged accidentally , we don't know that is not true. We don't know whether knocked on the door or if she was rattling the screen door trying to open it. We don't really even know that the front door was closed, he could have forgotten to lock the door and stumbled into the living room after being awakened in the middle of the night by noises that sounded like someone trying to break in and been accross the room and just saw a figure trying to come through the screen door. It's hard to imagine him opening the door and then raising the shotgun up to aim at her face. We don't know if any words were exchanged, if he told her to leave and she continued trying to come in. There were no witnesses. All we know is that she was on his porch drunk and high in the wee hours of the morning . I don't see how this could be anything higher than manslaughter. Whatever the circumstances, this man did not set out to kill anyone.

First of all, her car didn't 'break down' she crashed it in a state of intoxication then fled the scene (a felony in MI). Time really ought to have higher standards than this. That omission is reprehensible.

Second, drunk, high on MJ and wandering through a residential area at 3:00AM pounding on doors is not the best way to overcome negative stereotypes.

"Of course, black men have long been profiled by society as threatening, or maybe even as criminals...." why did this become a gender issue? Who gets treated worse, black men or black women? Seriously? Jesus wept.

To address the focus of the actual article... The reason for the development of the new black female stereotype which does not see them as women who are worthy of protection... is the real world behavior of many black women.

Many black women get very loud and act very belligerently when engaging in any confrontation in public and in private. I see this everyday and have directly experienced it many times as a black man. This is referred to as "getting Ghetto". It angers me to be subjected to it because I don't hit women and on multiple occasions I have had black women come at me as if they were going to fight me. Unfortunately, the prevalence of this behavior has altered my response to belligerent black women. I used to say I would never hit a woman.. I have had to backtrack and say that I will try to avoid hitting women, but I won't let myself be assaulted without responding.

The author is a Cornell professor and perhaps doesn't experience this among her own peers, but she can't ignore the actions of a large group of lower class black women in our society. This new stereotype is sad for our community, but it wasn't invented by white people.

Black women need to have discussions about the consequences of this type of behavior. Often when black people see these types of outbursts the spectators think it is highly amusing, but apparently the stereotype it creates can have unfortunate consequences.

That being said... None of that justifies shooting this drunken girl in the face with a shotgun. The homeowner could easily have called 911. And if she had actually attempted to break into his premises then he might have been justified. If you want to have a gun then you are responsible for what happens when you use it.

Some really poor reporting here. First of all Renisha McBride was extremely drunk (.218 BAC) and had also been smoking pot. Her car was not "disabled" but she crashed it into a parked car. She was assisted by some neighbors but she refused their help and fled the scene of the accident, returning a half hour later and leaving again and acting drunk and erratic according to witnesses. Three hours later she show up at this man's home trying to get into his house at nearly 4 am. This has nothing to do with the woman being black - it only had to do with a woman whose personal actions caused the entire problem. It is very sad she died, but she brought this on herself. She was underage drinking, drunk driving, hit and run, fleeing the scene of an accident/crime, and she was much closer to her own home than she was to this man's home so why did she not just go home? But the real key is that is has nothing at all to do with race. Let the DA and the Grand Jury do their jobs without the racial pressure please.

I wonder if the author feels silly yet for claiming she was merely "knocking on the door asking for help"? We now know she was falling down drunk and at almost 3 times the legal limit for an ADULT driver.

As for the stereotyping, it's not right. But it is time to be honest and assess the percentage of black women in public who are loud and belligerent (compared to women of other races, for example) if we really want to understand why stereotypes exist.

it will be charged higher than manslaughter because she could have been obama's daughter and everything is racist and we don't need proof, we just need enough black people to get pissed off and then, in their minds and the minds of the white apologist libtards, proof has been established

@absentreason Please. Ever met a Sicilian woman? Culturally they can respond just as violently as "getting ghetto" (I call it getting Mafia) but aren't stereotyped or feared in the same way. I've witnessed this in my cousin Carmella, myself and Sicilian relatives, and this is most prevalent the more east you go. In fact I responded more violently in verbal altercations than other girls in my predominately African-American high school, many lower income. However, this stereotype is not used by what I call "whitebread" people against Sicilian women as a whole as it is against black women as a whole. There is a difference between an action and a stereotype, and a stereotype is invented by those doing the stereotyping..such as white people and apparently yourself.

@absentreason As a 30 year police vetrean and black what you say about black women is true. I have seen first hand thousands of times black women escalating a small disturbance in to a riot. they think that is the way to gain attention and get support from neighbors and the media if they are there. They yell, and get demonstrative and cause a scenes on purpose, then they use the race card. when ablack officer shows up they hate it.

@absentreason Black women are already having discussions about this (just as black men need to have discussions about crime rates that aren't in their favor). Everyone needs self-reflection (whites, blacks, Asians, men and women).

I attended a predominately white college and I have seen PLENTY of young white women drunk and belliegerent, however this was considered "normal" college student behavior. However, for Renisha it is enough to justify her being shot in the face? Interesting....I really wish that people like you would at least TRY to walk a mile in someone else's shoes rather than bathing in your own privilege- until that happens these kinds of tragedies will continue to occur and so will the general distrust between teh races.

@Raine'sRants@absentreason black women do not discuss it enough, their big mouths cause more problems and make any issue worse and compounded. then they wonder why they get arrested for disturbance or disorderly conduct. Its called having a big mouth.

Perhaps some black women are discussing this, but I'm concerned that some discussion is so divorced from reality that it serves little purpose. Witness the comments of SabrinaGross earlier in the thread. She raised some reasonable arguments, but her assertion that she had never in her life witnessed a black woman acting loud and aggressive in public is simply not credible. It's possible, but only if she lives in an extremely upper class community and almost never ventures outside of it. Her comments failed to recognize that denying obviously true, yet unflattering facts simply destroys the credibility of everything else you have to say. A lot of what she said was valuable, but discussions which deny the obvious are not useful and they don't lead to positive change.

@TimothyBenston@Taxman She could have killed someone because she was driving drunk and high! 2+ hours after the accident her blood alcohol level is 3 TIMES the legal limit. Give me a break. With behavior like that, at 19 years old, it was only a matter of time until she killed herself, or more likely, someone else. Do you want someone like that driving down your street, to run over your pets or your children or your spouse? I don't give a flying flip if she was polka dotted freaking pink or even from another planet. I'd bet good money that she was trying to break down that guy's door because she was so drunk she didn't know what she was doing, and the people who witnessed the accident were powerless to stop her from leaving because she was violent.

BTW, Timmy, you're proof that people are stupid and will believe the most insane things if only it agrees with their already preconceived notions.

Why is underage drunken driving, drug use, no responsibility for ones actions....blaming the victim?Is that all going to be swept under the rug? How many 'intoxicated' people start fights because of their lowered inability to reason? How many innocent people get killed by drunk drivers?

Point blank, if she hadn't been driving drunk in the first place, she would not be dead, that's true.But if after her crash she had stayed on scene instead of running around drunk for 2 hours, she would have been held responsible for her actions, which affected the lives of complete strangers.

For some reason nowadays, some idiot getting shot because of actions THEY took nowadays is the go-to flashpoint stance on racial tensions in america. Y'all know it aint just "blacks" and "whites" in this country of 300 million people. Sheesh.

She forced her life into the worlds of others. These people had no connection to her outside of this one sole event. For you to think shes entirely innocent...is ridiculous and biased.

Have any of you seen crime scene evidence and photos? Do you know the entire timetable of events. Is there a camera or voice recording of the possible vocal interaction between victim and attacker that we can dissect frame by frame?

I love how everyone here is a practiced Lawyer with years of experience and insight.

@boldandworthy@Indypendentin09 This it true, all races, but no women can be louder and have bigger mouths then black women. Black women are race baiters and will run their big mouths to cause a disturbance and gather a crowd. It is what blacks are taught to do, to cause a diversion from the real issue, which is 9 times out of 10 them.

@SabrinaGross I am a 63 year old black retired cop, with 30 years experience on the streets of a major city. In all those years I have never seen a white woman act like a black women ,other then white women who think they are black living with a black. Black young women have big mouths and use the race card crap and are some of the worst racist I have ever had to deal with, yelling honkey this and honkey that, and cracker ass white,red necks etc. No one is worse then a black woman when its comes to having a big mouth trying to cause a scene. They think that will turn the tables on what ever issue is at hand.

@SabrinaGross I completely understand where you are coming from. In my life, while in college, I witnessed white kids get drunk, drive, do all sorts of craziness and no one said anything because this was considered typical behavior for someone in that age group. I am offended that people keep bringing up her BAC level because it doesn't justify her being shot. She was 19 years old for crying out loud and yes she should not had been drinking and driving but does that justify someone shooting you in the "FACE". That man shot to kill, I don't care what he says, this was no accident. A accident is possibly my gun accidently discharged and I shot you in your right toe...not my shot gun accidently discharged and it was positioned and aimed at your "HEAD"!!!!

@SabrinaGross I'm not talking about drunks. I'm talking about women at the supermarket or on the street at lunchtime in cities all over America. In restaurants and movie theaters. Open your eyes and do as I suggest - compare the number of times you see a black female being loud or obnoxious compared to other races and genders.

@PaulFrantizek @Openminded1 @GlenSallee I of all people celebrate differences as you call it. I am half black and half white like Obama. My dad was white Italian and mom was black from the Virgin islands. I celebrate my blackness, and my white Italian side.

it's blaming the victim because the black community has a victim complex. you're not allowed to point out obvious facts/make obvious statements if it goes against their narrative that all of life's problems are the fault of the white man. it's childish and counterproductive and plays a huge role in why white america holds some of the views it does, but it's easier to go that route than it is to actually address the problems in the black community and attack them head on

@joshualandard@SabrinaGross whites kid in college and everywhere get drunk dummy, we all know that. But when it comes to being loud when drunk or not, black women win the gold medal by far. the medal needs to be taped to their big mouths.

what's scary is that you, in theory anyway, have a fully functional brain if you can't see past your own hypocrisy and realize that you're one of the more hypocritical, racist posters on here. we get it. you like playing the victim card. you do a great job of it. and we all know it's BS.

@JesseWood@Indypendentin09@SabrinaGross brother their are many educated blacks, education does not mean they are not loud. there are loud whites, hispanics and asians etc. But no group of women are louder and more of a disturbance then black women. even the black hookers I have arrested over the years where 3 times louder then the white or Hispanic and Asian hookers put together. are there some refined, classy black women, of course I am married to one, and taught our daughter to be refined. and know a lot of black families that are. but I am also a realist and know the truth black women as a majority have very big mouths and use them to stir up more trouble then what is needed and to display the race card to get out of trouble they may be in.

@SabrinaGross Privilege my ass, this is 2013 looks whos in the white house. white people put him there silly girl. you really do not think that blacks put him that office do you? they helped but it would not have been enough to get him in office. There is now reverse racism and it is blacks that are far more racist then whites. remember girl I am black and 63 and have heard and seen more racist bs from blacks buy far. There was no doubt whites were racist and treated blacks like 3 class citizens , but those days are over. i saw it first hand as a kid and young man. But that was then not now.

@JesseWood@Indypendentin09@SabrinaGross Wrong Jesse, lendypendetin09 just didn't major in African American studies, she is going by her own personal life experiences as opposed to Sabrina who has been indoctrinated with all of that "white privledge" BS and taught to have a chip on her shoulder and believe that all whate people are racist if they disagree with her. Think about it, the stereotype would not exist if there weren't a plenty of black women out there who make it a point to reinforce that stereotype.

I know plenty of black women who are not loud and belligerent as well; that has exactly nothing to do with what I said - that if you spend enough time with people of all races as I have, you notice trends. And you notice that of all demographics, black women display more loud, belligerent behavior than any other.

The question is, why are you afraid of discussing that simple fact? Stereotypes don't merely invent themselves. As for Sabrina, suggesting she take her blinders off and lose the victim mentality doesn't mean I think I'm better than her - just that she clearly lives in a bubble of denial. And notice she was caught stereotyping me twice and called on it.

@SabrinaGross usually i hear it long before i see it, and honestly an enraged black woman is extremely comical to me. They are extremely animated and use very colorful language, coupled with amazing gestures. Nobody can throw a shameless fit like a black woman.

@Indypendentin09: You continue to tell @SabrinaGross to "Do as I suggest" which really shows me that you think that you're better than her. You continue to stereotype, but then in the same breath tell her to be open-minded to your fearful attitudes towards Black women--that really doesn't help your case (at all.) I know plenty of Black women who are not loud and belligerent and are very educated people. I may not be as old as you, but I do try my best to judge people on who they are, not on some stupid, racist stereotype.

"My goal is to encourage YOU to not use your privilege to sit in judgement"

PS - this is as racist as racist gets too! It's high time blacks were called out on this crap. FYI I grew up in an extremely poor household and was raised by a single mother who worked 2 jobs and put herself through night school.

The PRIVILEGE I have is not the privilege you allege, but rather the privilege of having been properly raised by a woman who taught me that you really can do anything in this world if you put your mind to it. But again, it's easier to just sit back generation after generation and blame race or poverty or schools or whatever it is you choose to blame. I attended crappy public schools and went to them on plenty of days hungry.

But according to you and your ilk, I am somehow "privileged" because my skin isn't black. Wake up. Stop being a victim and start accepting the reality that we are what we do in this life.

And again, it's absolutely racist to claim that she lost her life because of her race. She lost her life because in all probability, she was loud and belligerent and pounding on a stranger's door in the middle of the night - period.

@SabrinaGross My OBSERVATIONS about black women are based on my life experiences. You can choose to continue ignoring those facts (that I believe are the direct cause of the stereotypes) or you can look at things objectively, open your mind, and do as I suggested and start observing your fellow citizens in America.

I guess it's easier to play the victim than to open your eyes and see that it's not racism that is to blame for such things, but reality.

My goal is not to argue with you or to "make up information." My goal is to encourage YOU to not use your privilege to sit in judgement of a group of women who have double stereotypes thrown at them on a daily basis. However, your beliefs about black women are obviously deeply rooted and so its simply not worth my time. I just hope that some people on here open their minds to other people's plights and experiences to show some concern and passion for this young woman who was brutally murdered because this country doesn't value her life based on the color of her skin and her gender. May she rest in peace.

@SabrinaGross I have worked in healthcare for 30 years in a fairly large city, so to answer your question, the answer is daily for longer than you've probably been alive.

Notice I didn't say this about black people in general, but about black women. Black men don't generally behave this way, but black women do more than any other demographic in America.

Stop trying to force people to ignore their own life experiences because it's inconvenient. Start opening your own eyes if you really want to understand why stereotypes exist.

Also, ask yourself why you assumed I knew nothing about black women because I have no experience interacting with them (just because I said something you didn't want to hear). Does that make you racist to make such assumptions based on my race? How do you know I'm not black?!?

@#libtardedamerica@SpenceRR44 There is some truth to some of the stereotypes of African American women but this does not negate what is the #1 stereotype that none of the white people on this post will admit. I dont think all white people are white supremacist but MORE white people have practiced white supremacy in more places for a longer period of time than ANY behavioral stereotype than you can say about any group of people. They mistreat and dominate people who they say are not white; Germany, India, Hong Kong, South Africa, North and South America, Australia, Mexico the history of these places is the history of white supremacy that whites keep denying exists.

@Indypendentin09@SabrinaGrossThere is some truth to some of the stereotypes of African American women but this does not negate what is the #1 stereotype that none of the white people on this post will admit. I dont think all white people are white supremacist but MORE white people have practiced white supremacy in more places for a longer period of time than ANY behavioral stereotype than you can say about any group of people. They mistreat and dominate people who they say are not white; Germany, India, Hong Kong, South Africa, North and South America, Australia, Mexico the history of these places is the history of white supremacy that whites keep denying exists.